Ministers must not resort to 'cheap options' on defence, says British Army chief

Ministers must not take "cheap options" when it comes to equipping the Armed Forces to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the head of the British Army warns today.

Gen Sir Richard Dannatt warns ministers must not take 'cheap options' when it comes to equipping the Armed Forces in Iraq and AfghanistanPhoto: PA

by Con Coughlin

10:23PM GMT 13 Nov 2008

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph, General Sir Richard Dannatt says the Government has an "absolute responsibility" to provide the best training and equipment for the British men and women serving on the front line.

"If you are committing young people to battle they have to be given the best, and when circumstances change they have to be given the best again," he said.

His comments came as the Ministry of Defence announced the death of two Royal Marines in southern Afghanistan, taking the British death toll in Iraq and Afghanistan to 300.

Gen Dannatt, who will retire from the Army next year, has been outspoken on defence issues since taking up his post in 2006.

In 2006, he warned that the Army could 'break' if British soldiers were kept too long in Iraq.

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And in a leaked report last year, Gen Dannatt warned that years of Government under-funding and overstretch had left troops feeling "devalued, angry and suffering from Iraq fatigue."

With Britain now preparing to withdraw its 4,000 troops from Iraq next year, pressure is mounting - from sources including Barack Obama, the US president-elect -- for more British forces to be sent to Afghanistan.

But Gen Dannatt said that no more British troops should go to Afghanistan, insisting that the Army only has the manpower and resources to fight one foreign war at a time.

"The reason the Army has been under such pressure for the past three years is that we are committed to fighting two wars when we are only structured to fight one," said Gen. Dannatt. "If we were to move troops from Iraq to Afghanistan we would simply replicate the problems."

He said that many improvements had been made in equipping front line troops during the past two years, but serious consideration needed to be given as to whether it was sufficient that only 5 per cent of the government's budget was devoted to defence spending.

"Is the amount the government spends on defence the right proportion?" he asked. "There are no cheap options on defence."

Defence ministers have come under heavy criticism at a number of recent inquests which have blamed equipment shortages and failures for the unnecessary deaths of soldiers in Afghanistan.

In particular the Ministry of Defence has been criticised for deploying Snatch Land Rovers to Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. The Daily Telegraph revealed last month that an SAS commander has resigned after four soldiers under his command were killed when their Snatch was hit by a land mine last summer.

Gen Dannatt defended the use of the Snatch vehicles in southern Afghanistan, which are described by troops as "mobile coffins", insisting they were the only vehicles available for certain types of operations. "There has always been a requirement for a small, agile vehicle," said Gen Dannatt. "If we could identify a better vehicle that was small and agile, we would have something better."

But apart from fitting the vehicles with better protection, he said that attempts to find a suitable replacement for the Snatch had drawn a blank, and the Armed Forces would have to persevere with Snatch vehicles for the foreseeable future, although he would make sure that the number of Snatch vehicles used in combat operations was kept to a minimum.

Gen Dannatt paid tribute to the dead Marines, who were killed two days after attending a Remembrance Day service held in Afghanistan. "It is tragic, so soon after the nation has remembered past sacrifice, that two Royal Marines were killed in Afghanistan yesterday," said Gen Dannatt. "The families of those who have died have my deepest sympathy. Their loss strengthens my belief and resolve that we must succeed in this long and complex campaign."

The Army chief was also critical of what he described as the "cancer of defeatism" that he believes is having an adverse effect on the British public's support for the war on terror after an ICM opinion poll yesterday showed that two-thirds of the British public would like to see Britain's armed forces withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of next year.

"There is a cancer of defeatism and it is really unhelpful and undermining," he said. "If you accept that Afghanistan is important in (defending) the national interest then it will take resolve, patience and time."

Gen Dannatt was speaking for the first time since the government announced he would be standing down next summer as head of the Army - a move widely believed to have been taken in retaliation for his outspoken comments on government policy.

In a wide-ranging interview Gen Dannatt spoke of the progress being made in Iraq, the challenges facing British forces in Afghanistan and expressed his gratitude to the British public for their continuing support for the Armed Forces.

The recent improvement in the security situation in southern Iraq meant that it was now possible for the government to give serious consideration to withdrawing the majority of British forces next year, and he expected the government to make a statement to that effect shortly. "We have done a tremendous job in a relatively quick time frame - just six years in Iraq compared with 38 years in Northern Ireland, 14 in Bosnia and 9 in Kosovo," he said.

But he warned against any reduction in the 4,000-strong British force in Iraq being used to increase British forces in southern Afghanistan, which currently stand at about 8,000. "The reason the Army has been under such pressure for the past three years is that we are committed to fighting two wars when we are only structured to fight one," said Gen. Dannatt. "If we were to move troops from Iraq to Afghanistan we would simply replicate the problems."

Afghanistan remains the central battleground in the war on terror and the public should be prepared for a long-term commitment. "We are there for the long haul and we have to keep our shoulders to the wheel," he said. "We must remain in Afghanistan because it is in our national interest to do so. We do not want to see areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan become ungoverned space and allow the Taliban to recreate the situation leading up to 9/11. Al-Qaeda's agenda has not changed. Their agenda is to change our way of life."

After a distinguished Army career, during which he won the Military Cross, Gen Dannatt says he has no regrets about stepping down next year, or about his high profile public statements. "

"I said publicly nothing that I had not previously said to Des Browne (the former Defence Secretary). My intention was to be open and honest about how I saw things."

But he was pleased with the warm response of the British public to his appeal for the nation to respect the Covenant with the Armed Forces, which has seen a number of towns and cities staging welcome home parades for troops returning from the front line, and he hoped it would now lead to an increase the number of young people volunteering to serve their country.

"I am grateful to the British public for getting behind the Armed Forces," said Gen. Dannatt. "I know that as our soldiers march through the city streets they feel ten feet tall. I would like to see some of this support translated to our young because it is a fine and honourable thing to be a British soldier. It is a very worthwhile thing to do and I would not have done it these past forty years if it was not worthwhile."